By Sue Finley
After a 10-year battle, the Court of Appeals in Nantes, France has revoked the authorization for the global conglomerate Guy Dauphin Environnement (GDE) to operate a waste dump in Nonant-le-Pin. The decision, handed down Friday, effectively puts an end to the long standoff between GDE and the Sauvegarde des Terres d'Elevage, a group of breeders and farmers who opposed the giant auto parts dump in the middle of some of the world's most beautiful Thoroughbred breeding grounds. The dump operated for two days in 2013 before protestors blocked the entrance with a nearly year-long blockade–in the true French tradition–and took their fight to court.
“It is an important victory for the racing world, for Normandy and for l'Orne, and a victory for a too-rare association between the Thoroughbred and trotting worlds, who worked together for a spectacular result,” Eric Puerari told France-Sire. Puerari operates one of the farms which would have bordered the dump, Haras des Capucines, and is the President of the environmental group fighting them.
Along the way, the battle was supported by many racing organizations in France and around the world, who came together at Arqana each December to raise money through the donation of stallions seasons and auction items. Loic Malivet, president of the Syndicat des Eleveurs, the French breeders association, was one of the ones celebrating Friday. “We are very happy at the Syndicat, which always supported this fight, as it is an immense victory,” he told France-Sire. “I would say this is better than winning the Derby.”
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